


Flowers Beneath The Concrete

by Mxtanoia



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alexander "I can be an insufferable prick" Hamilton, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, EVERYONE is an asshole ain' no lie, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I try to base people that aren't in the musical on their historical counterparts, I'm Going to Hell, I'm Sorry, Inspired by Roleplay/Roleplay Adaptation, Inspired by The Walking Dead, M/M, No Zombies were hurt while writing this, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Build, The Author Regrets Nothing, Thomas "I enjoy Bantering with the insufferable prick" Jefferson, everyone gets screwed over because in my opinion they dont deserve nice things, headcanon heavy, lotsa own interpretion, okay this is a lie, probably no smut, this isn't going to be pretty, thomas pov
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-10-11 03:34:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10454049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mxtanoia/pseuds/Mxtanoia
Summary: Look Around, Look Around.Aren't we lucky to be alive right now?





	1. Prolouge

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, this is my first fanfic in such a long time as I haven't written properly in literally years.  
> Second of all, English isn't my mother-tounge unfortunately. I'm good with vocab, however I still need to figure out how to do proper punctication.  
> Another thing I oughta add, this is heavily inspired by The Walking Dead, because this series just got me hooked and I've been wanting to write this for ages. Initially I planned to begin writing in December '16 but I met a lovely bud called Procastination.

_70th day after the Outbreak_

**_I am under the impression that my mind cannot comprehend all of this, not even after surviving seventy days in this hell._ _It is truly a miracle that neither I or my best friend have turned into one of them. Everyday we have to stray out to obtain food, search for water, look for ways to fight off those undead walking corpses – it's not even safe to converse with other survivers._**

**_Both Jemmy and I refuse to surrender to this force, we will neither kill ourselves or set ourselves off to get killed. We are still determinded to fight on and live up to the days we get to rebuild society._ **

**_I apologize the lack and shortness of my entries, however it has been painfully dull and things have been happening in a very scheduled routine. We wake up, take in some food, afterwards we leave to search for supplies and make sure to stay in ear- as well as in eyesight and find a quatier to hide in for the night. Yesterday however, we arrived in a bigger city, it cannot be considered a major city, but it certainly is big enough to possess a few stores amongst that a hospital and a school. Latter is our current shelter. We might make our way to the hospital and look for remaining medical supplies. I miss the comfort of the world before the Outbreak ..._ **

The man laying next to him stirred a little and gave out a deep sigh. Thomas looked over to his companion and decided to write down the final sentence of his entry.

_**Jemmy will be waking up soon, so I ought to stop.** _

The tall dark-haired man shut the book he'd just written in and leaned against the wall of the room they had barricaded themselves in. It felt surreal, all those horrible events that had taken place truly shook him to the core. Thomas Jefferson placed down the pen and ran his finger through his puffy black hair and looked down on his friend James Madison, who was still taking in as much rest as he could these days. The taller man had given up on putting effort into tasks like these. Prior to all of this, he treated sleep like something sacred and made sure to get eight hours minimum, now however, his biggest priority was to stay alive. He got used to the foggieness, the dizzy-spells and the rush he got from it.

„Thomas?“, the calm voice of his friend tore him out of his thought-clouded mind. „Jemmy, good morning“, he responded and arched his back a little streching his muscles to wake up his body from the short rest he'd gotten. Afterwards he stuck his hand into his backpack, retrieved the resealed bag of trail-mix they'd opened a few days ago and handed it over to his best friend.

„Breakfast's ready“, he said in a slightly mocking yet loving tone, „Rise 'n Shine, we gotta go soon.“ He hated to rush the smaller man like that , but it couldn't be helped. It would be too dangerous for the both of them to stay in one place for too long, considering the many medical conditions James had to face. Thomas never doubted his friend one second, he was aware of the greatness that lied in James, but that didn't make him less worried about him. The taller male himself grabbed a snack package of salted peanuts and ate them. He closed his eyes and tried to picture happier times.

A picture of him and James sitting in the parking lot of a Walmart eating some bake-off chocolate-chip cookies flashed right before his eyes. Talking, discussing matters both deemed as important and worthy to be talked about. Once again, Thomas was painfully aware that it would never be like that anymore, they would never be this careless ever again.

Just shortly after, his eyes snapped open again, and he was faced with a James that already seemed ready to set off. A chuckle rolled over Thomas' lips. „Gotta be careful today, huh?“, he teased, „You're really out and and about today, take it easy, Jemmy.“ He recieved an eyeroll from his friend who carefully hoisted himself onto his knees and finally got onto his feet. Thomas did it alike, in a faster fashion however. Dizzy spells fogged his mind for a second but wore off quickly.

His and James' backpack were picked up and the taller man handed it over to his companion, who accepted it with an agreeing nod. After both men hosted their backpacks on their shoulders, they left the small room they had been staying in. „Funny enough“, Thomas mused to himself, it never ceased to make him wonder how the world had changed, „Months ago I would have turned up my nose at the thought of sleeping in a Janitor closet. Now it has become a necissity.“

However, he quickly decided to not stray off in his thoughts for too long, as both would have to leave the building they'd been staying in soon. It would be inexcusable to be unfocused outside these walls, death was around every corner and if one wanted to prevail, one had to be aware of every step they took.

It was an eerie walk, to pace down those empty and messy hallways. The light brown doors leading to classrooms were either shut tight, barricaded from the inside or stood wide open. Blood was splattered almost everywhere on the beige coloured walls and the turquoise checkered ground. The dark green lockers were torn open and paper was all over the ground as well. The walls were full of grafitty and other unidentifiable substances. Mixed in with all of that was the nauseating smell of deceasing cadavers and other substances. Thomas' stomach churned violently and threatened to bring up his meager breakfast as he dared to muse about what could be the cause all of those horrible smells. He quickly shook himself a little to bring his concentration onto other matters. 

„Gross“, he muttered beneath his breath and managed to move on from the horrible sight. So he continued to go as fast as he was able to do with James by his side, who seemed rather unbothered by all of this on the outside. However as Thomas knew, James did indeed have an opinion on everything, he just wouldn't voice it or rather, rarely do so.

„It is surprisingly calm“, James suddenly noted and carefully examined their surroundings with a calmness that Thomas couldn't get around until this day. "I hope we won't have to use our last sets of ammunition today.“

Thomas gave him an agreeing nod. „It truly is calm, but rather than calming me down, it makes me even more suspicious.“ A short noise of agreement came from his companion but both were startled by a different noise.

A faint growl emerged from the ground-level as the men walked by - an undead teenager had taken note of the men's presences. Their complete lower body was nonexistant and they only possessed humanly features from the torso and up. Their face was only halfway intact. Thomas snorted in disgust as **that thing** extended their bony arms and made slow grabbing motions after them in an attempt to reach both men. Their gaze was piercing with hunger and greed, longing for human flesh as they continued to moan and growl. The Virginians stepped back a little. The teen posed no threat, as they were immobile, very much so.

„That's repulsive“, Thomas commented and eyed the undead with disgust. He knew, he had to kill it. One undead being less meant a victory for Humankind, for the Ones that were still alive and breathing. Despite it being his least favourite part, it had to be done, these beings needed to be exterminated. He shot a short glance over to his friend, who lowly signalized him, that he may do the job.

"This one's for you, Jemmy", he muttered while closing his brown eyes. Thomas raised his chin high, his foot in addition to that and stomped with a huge force onto the skull of the teenager, not once, not twice but three times, until the body part that had been identifiable as the head was nothing but a red, brown-ish pulp. Not keeping his eyes on the horrible sight any longer as it would really cause him discomfort, he turned around and walked back to his friend. After James gave him an apologetic glance for making him take that task, both made their ways out of the building to follow their daily routine.

As they exited the school building, they were greeted with a wave of fresh late-summer air. The smell of wet grass was hanging in the air and as both men raised their heads towards the sky, they were faced with a orange, golden sunrise that seemed to be engulfing the whole soft and light blue sky. Small, white and silky stripes of clouds made golden rays of the sun emerge even more from their blue background. A soft breeze ran through the trees, making the only sound in the men's enviroment the sound of moving, swinging leaves.

"Magnificient, don't ya think so too, Jemmy?", Thomas muttered, admiring the sunrise and turned to James, who seemed to be a little impressed as well. Unfortunately, said impression didn't last long in his friend. "It's truly a blessing that we are able to see such a sunrise everyday, despite everything we have been through so far", he replied to Thomas' question. Then he swallowed and continued;

"I hate to rush you Thomas, but we really ought to go now, we might be able to enjoy the sunset properly. We should head to the Hospital first, like we agreed on yesterday. That is first priority, to get there as quick as we can, without too many stops and other interruptions."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this a good Idea? I don't know. Please decide for yourselves.  
> I'm also kinda nervous about this, but yeah, first fanfic in ages, that I'll hopefully be able to keep up. As this is a Roleplay Adaption, I do have a clear idea what will happen. (And already planned out the first chapter)  
> Well, have a nice morning/day/night whereever you're at right now. 
> 
> \- Freddie


	2. Convallaria majalis - Lily of the Valley

Empty streets. That was all the men had come across so far. Empty streets as well as empty cars and empty houses.

That fact hadn't made Thomas as uncomfortable and queazy as it had been in the first two weeks after the Outbreak. A faint feeling of discomfort and fright still remained but Thomas decided to surpress it as best as he was able to. The Virginian closed his eyes while stepping through the streets and tried to enjoy the sensation of the sun caressing his skin. Both men were lucky, it turned out to be a mild and sunny day, so both were in the fortunate situation of being able to take off their jackets. So, Thomas savoured the comforting warmth of the sunrays. A few minutes later, he slowly, he looked at James again.

 

His best friend seemed to examine the area, which wasn't a bad thing. After all, it would be lifesaving to know where to run to, in case of an emergency.

„I've never been to this city, have you even been here, Jemmy?“, the taller man questioned his friend, now and adjusted his backpack.

„Actually, I have been here before“, James mused and stopped for a moment, „I cannot remember the name of this town at the moment, but I do remember having to stop here for a few hours on an excursion in high school.“

„Oh, true. Your physics class went to an exhibition in Harrisonburg, right?“, Thomas thought aloud.

The smaller man turned to his friend, who stopped walking the second he did. „Yes, and one of the students had to be taken to the Hospital. You know, the main building is just a few minutes away, I'm very sure of that. We will have to pass through the park over there, behind that intersection“, he began to explain and pointed the way he was referring to, as a support for his explanation.

 

„Well then, let's get there as fast as possible“, Thomas commented after James had finished and already wanted to take on the route James had shown him, but stopped, as both heard a familiar slurring sound on the concrete.

Both immediately stopped in their tracks. They exchanged quick glances.

Slowly, James raised his arm and point a little bit north-east from Thomas and hinted him the location of the Zombie.

In an equally slow manner, Thomas turned his head that way and saw that thing. It appeared, that the Zombie had been a woman priorly. Neither could make out any facial features from the distance, but the woman appeared to have had medium lenghed wavy brown hair and had been of slightly over average built for her height.

 

„Oh _really,_ _this must be a joke_ “, Thomas complained under his breath and exhaled in frustration.

This was far from an ideal situation, so both were grateful that the different parties were quite a distance apart. She was lingering in the parking lot of a company that rented and selled cars, inbetween all of the vehicles **and** she hadn't taken note of the pair, yet. If both were quick and fast now, they would be able to pull off a quick and easy escape. Their enemy was just wandering through the arrays of cars and hopefully it would stay that way, both men hoped. In an unspoken agreement, both men decided on sneaking off immediately now, to avoid any face to face confrontation.

 

Unluckily, the moment both wanted to sneak off, the woman's head snapped towards the men.

She tilted her head in an unhealthy angle and a growl roared from the back of her throat as she eyed both men.

„Well, that's just great“, Thomas commented louder in a sarcastic manner as she was scurrying and slumping towards them. Out of reflex, the taller man grabbed his friend by the wrist and was about to drag him away, but both froze again when first, a hollow and then a loud and highpitched sound halled through the silence of the day.

 

The Zombie had activated the alarm of a car. The obnoxious and monotonously loud sound resonated through the whole immediate area.

 

„Is that for real?!“, Thomas spat, groaning and feeling panic arise as he saw a few more Zombies rise from the location they had spotted the first one.

 

The taller man's whole body seemed to heat up and his mind began to feel a little foggy and fuzzy. "Seventy days in", he rationalized, "only seventy days, no, already seventy days-" He almost felt his head spin due to the influx of thoughts, that was suddenly rushing over him but thankfully James tugged his wrist and pulled him back into reality.

„Thomas, over there, right next to the parking lot“, he pointed out, speaking loud and clearly, „There seems to be a place where we could hide in for the time being, until they calmed down and strayed off, so we wont waste any ammunition and don't risk getting hurt.“

 

Thomas took a deep breath and pressed a simple „Yeah“ through his gritted teeth. "Easy", he resonated within his mind, "Nothing will happen, just follow Jemmy's suggestion, he's got his head clearer right now, he'll surely make the right decision."

James suggestion would be for the best, he didn't doubt his friend in any way, especially not in a situation like this.

The taller man threw a glance over his shoulder. The small herd of Zombies slumped towards them and was frighteningly close now. Without saying both men darted over to the small corner shop. The friends were lucky, the door wasn't shut, so they were able to slip in quickly.

As soon as they were inside both backpacks were thrown in a corner, they pushed the door closed and Thomas pressed himself against the door as the hands and fists began to pound against the door. From the Other Side of the door he caught the moaning and angry growling from the Undead. His mind was flooded with images of Zombies he had the unfortune to see close up.

 

Despite everything, he kept his eyes tight shut. The last thing he wanted to see was Undead Human Beings close up. Thomas' breath started to accelerate and grow louder into panting, he felt that it was no easy task to defend the door.

The taller man felt a little bit eased, as he heard James shuffle somewhere near him and announce in a semi-loud voice, that he was going to gather as much as he could to barricade the door.

„Just a few more minutes“, he encourated himself under his breath and flexed every muscle of his body, waiting for a relief to happen. The relief being James with objects to secure the entrance at least a little.

 

 

However, the only sound Thomas heard, was the clicking of an unlocking gun.

The Virginian's eyes snapped open the second he heard the sound.

A man, who was just a few inches taller than James had him at gunpoint. His brown eyes that twinkled dangerously and aggressively slowly looked at Thomas, meeting his gaze. The taller man showed no weakness, despite the unfortunate situation he was in right now.

„What the Hell do you think you're doin'?!“, he scolded the Brunette man who was glaring daggers at him with his dark eyes. The Virginian neither had the time or the concentration to speculate about the Stranger's descendance. Though, the first thought that came to his mind, was that he seemed to be of Caribbean descendance.

„Yeah, could ask you guys the same“, he snarkily replied and kept on pointing the gun at James. Thomas was roughly pulled back to reality and inhaled air sharply through his nostrils.

„For Fuck's Sake, do you need glasses?“, the Virginian spat in an incredibly angry manner and tone at the man, then groaned and threw himself against the door a second time as he felt it being pushed open again. A short break was needed to recollect himself and continued in a slightly inconvenienced voice, „There are maybe _two dozens_ of those things out there, right at our door and you have the audacity to point your gun at the one who wanted to give us a little headstart? Sorry but, how stupid can you get?“ Whithin a few seconds, the man seemed to actually recognize the danger of the situation. His eyes widened as he saw the amount of Zombies that was currently pushing against the fragile barrier from the outside and bit down on his lip. A curse word in a language Thomas couldn't identify that quickly rolled over his lips. The stranger locked his gun and pushed it in one of the pockets of his derrier. He jerked his head and attempted to signalize James to continue his search.

 

Another man entered the room. He was a little bit taller than Thomas himself and he wore a navy beanie on his head. Thomas froze for a split second and prayed that he wouldn't gun him or James down. Luckily, that wasn't the case, as the smaller man already raised his word at the other stranger.

„Fuck, Herc, help us real quick“, the smaller man ordered him and kept frantically searching. James, who had quickly recovered from the first inital shock returned with a chair from the staff room and immediately attempted to figure out, where to put it. In an attempt to take some strain off of Thomas.

„Thomas? Should I assist you?“, he questioned his friend and immediately put the chair down but was held back by Thomas muttered response of „No, no Jemmy, you let it be.“

If the smaller man was honest, then he would voice that he felt uncomfortable and guilty having Thomas do all the dirty work for now, however he didn't want to put even more distress onto his friend. Both just looked at each other for a minute and exchanged calm and reassuring smiles.

 

That short moment of comfort and reassurance didn't last long, as both Thomas and James were startled by the pounding that had begun once again. James jerked violently and Thomas cursed loudly.

The taller man was about to yell at the other two men again, specifically at the Brunette, but fortunately the stranger with the beanie appeared with a heavy and weighty looking box.

James scurried to the side and Thomas slowly slid to the side, so the taller man could drop it off near the doorknob area.

Shortly after that, the smaller man appeared as well and brought another box, significantly smaller and way smaller looking, but it would do, Thomas figured.

 

The Brunette man dropped it off next to him and sprinted over to his companion, who was pushing over a small shelf and carried it over to the door. Thomas breathed out in relief, quickly slipped away from the door and let both of them barricade the entrance.

His mouth was dry and his thoughts where spinning, too many matters at once demanded his attention.

Who were these strangers? Surely, he heard a name getting dropped somewhere inbetween but he still didn't know their faces.

Were they going to kill him or James now?

The blockade they'd built wouldn't last forever, how were they going to escape?

 

„Excuse me?“, the Brunette snapped a little at Thomas, who got torn out of his thoughts abruptly, „Did you even listen? I asked you, what you were doing here. If you came here to raid our supplies, then fuck off this second, you and your buddy, right into the Biters, preferably.“ He empathized his last phrases by pointing at him and James and nodded towards the, still, occupied door.

„Yo, Alexander“, the other man tried to resonate with the shorter man in the dark-green sweatshirt, „Let's not make the situation more difficult than it-“

All four men spun around in unisono as they suddenly heard the gargleing sounds of the Zombies outside more clear and louder. „We ought to go“, James declared and already wanted to retrieve deeper into the back of the store. „Oh, shit!“, the Brunette exclaimed, drew his gun and attempted a shot in the heat of the moment. No bullet was fired. All eyes were on the him and a short moment of silence waged in the small shop. Afterwards he errupted into loud complaints. This time, Thomas realized, that he was speaking Spanish. Usually, Thomas would have been quite intrigued but other issues demanded his full attention in this exact moment.

James came closer to Thomas and whispered; „We should negotiate with the taller man, he seems less impulsive and easier to negotiate with. We will offer them both our aid for this moment and then we'll leave.“ A good plan Thomas would have agreed to, however there wasn't enough time to even voice his agreement.

The door was shoved open wide enough so two to three pairs of hands had managed wriggle their way through the gap.

 

„I'm outta ammo“, the Brunette man moaned in frustration and looked over to the taller man, who was carrying an iron bar now, Thomas hadn't realized how the other's companion had picked it up.               All of them stepped away from the door and anticipated it to burst open any second. Thomas bit down on his lip and raised an eyebrow as the man with the ponytail turned around to him and James and looked at both of them questioningly, „Does one of you have a gun to spare?“ Shortly after the man had voiced his demand, Thomas' blood began to boil again, first he wanted him and James to go out there, practically get themselves killed and bitched around about -

His answer was already clear to him, he wouldn't give that stranger his weapon, never under any circumstances so he immediately responded, „N-“

However, both James and the door were faster than him. James had handed the man his gun and the door had been busted open and the barricade had been crashed. The four men inched away from the entrance that was being opened more and more. The commotion grew louder and louder, he wasn't even sure, if the amount of Zombies had doubled, even tripled while they had barricaded themselves in here. 

 

After that, everything felt like a Haze to Thomas, Zombies swarmed into the small corner shop, undead men, women. Missing arms, torn, bloody and dirty and seemingly infected injuries were scattered across all of them. Nausea was hitting him, he felt sick and he didn't understand it at all. Swiftly he raised his gun, he shot, shot and shot. It wasn't like he wasn't paying attention, he felt like there was a veil around every sense of his. His motions were rather motoric, his breath was fast and resonated loud in his head.

He saw the Zombies fall one by one, he heard them drop to the ground and their skulls crack.

He witnessed their heads being bashed with the iron stick of the stranger with the beanie.

He eyes the strangers out of the corner of his eye, how bravely and how fiercely they fought alongside him.

He noticed that he had used up all of his ammunition and that every one of them was struck down.

 

The one thing he didn't notice was how James got injuried as he was pushed violently against a shelf while he had fought for his safety. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thanks for tuneing in :')  
> This chaper really bumped up the word count and kickstarted the story, I'm pretty proud of myself, if I say so.  
> Also, while I'll be trying to update as fast as I can, I can only promise one chapter per week, as exam season is soon approaching.  
> Yeah, also thank you for those kudos I recieved on the Prolouge, I was a little nervous about how the resonance would be, and I was pleasantly surprised :)
> 
> A funfact on the side, I looked through Virginian cities; picked Harrisburg randomly and saw that the city has a University named after James Madison, and I was like, "How could I pass this up?" 
> 
> Until next time!  
> \- Freddie


	3. Cactae

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternative Title, everyone looses their shit collectively.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told y'all I was a procastinator.  
> I hate myself a WHOLE lot for it and I wish I could have updated quicker and not let my german ass get distracted.  
> In my defense, exams were coming up and I was forced to focus on that but hey, Summer is near and now I won't be stopped.

A painfully loud thud tore Thomas out of his dazed state of mind. The Virginian whipped around and caught a quick glimpse of what had just happened. He held his breath for a second and was unable to move. James, laying on the floor. He wasn't moving, he, James, wasn't moving. The tall man widened his eyes and already felt his mind go crazy on him. One of them was out of ammo, James had just been injuried, hell, he could have died from the fall since he wasn't the strongest person physically.

 

A loud screeching pierced in his left ear and he turned just in time to the source of the sound to avoid an assault. He raised his gun, breathing heavily and quickly pulled the trigger. The sound of the shot didn't bother him at all in this very moment, his fear of getting torn apart alive was definitely stronger. The walking corpse dropped to the floor after getting hit with the bullet and Thomas clothes were stained with fresh blood. The man just glared at the body for a second, „Fuck this.“, he muttered and quickly whipped around to the next, approaching Undead.

 

It surprised Thomas, how many bullets he still had left, how well he could actually perform under situations that quite literally decided over life and death. Back, before the Outbreak, his biggest priority was to make himself a name, to exceed his peers in every or as many fields as possible. Seeing that as his life goal. Now, it was about plain survival, impossible to be focusing on petty and itty-bitty worries like who would write the best term paper or get the most votes for students council. All those small things that were treated like winning a nobel prize seemed so idiotic and senseless now.

The man rammed his elbow into the eyesocket of an undead female and stomped onto her head after she fell. The crack of her skull brought bile up his throat. The bitter taste and the following burn nearly made him bend over and spit it out, but he decided on keeping it down and took a deep breath. Internally, he cursed himself and his body for having such a hard time keeping himself together now. The Virginian knew, he and James usually avoided confrontation such as these like the pleague, so Thomas deemed it most likely that his current reaction was due to that fact.

No time to ponder about about the past anymore, he quickly whipped around, shoving the next walking corpse away from him while groaning annoyedly.

Uncertainity and fear over the wellbeing of James, flooded his mind and he payed his friend a glance. He seemed to be untouched, so he and the other's must've been doing a good job protecting the man so far.

Thomas wanted to pick him up so badly and drag him straight out of here but he wasn't able to, they would get knocked over right away. The stranger's would most likely not help, just stand by and watch them get torn to pieces, probably get both their faces eaten off too. Thinking about that, Thomas already felt the repulsion ar-

 

„ **Watch out, idiot!** “, he was torn from his thoughts as a forest green, brunette scheme bolted right before his eyes and rammed a sharp object into the eyesocket of a male Undead slightly taller than him. Impressedly he watched the guy pull out the object, _oh_ , a screwdriver out of the socket and sinking it into the next attacker.

Thomas was impressed. Truly impressed, for a moment, he even put aside the anger and annoyance he had felt over the other's behaviour. The man in the green sweater seemed to be quite the quick and efficient fighter.

 

From one second to the other, the taller stranger appeared by his side and bolted towards James, who was still laying there, untouched and unattacked due to a miracle that Thomas was eternally thankful for.

„I'll go get him, pick 'em up, you and Alex cover our backs and we'll make an escape through the backdoor, yeah?“, he hissed at Thomas in his bold voice, having the Virginian just react with a nod. Thomas made a small mental note about their plan and the smaller one's nickname.

„Alex, huh“, he mused and pointed his gun at the Walker who were circling the small group in now, shooting one down after the other. However that job was over rather quickly, he had just shot one of them, when he was already ordered to retreat.

„Ey! Giant! Get the fuck out of here, now!“, he was ordered by a more aggressive and higher voice. The smaller one again. This time, Thomas didn't argue, he just knew better than going against orders in dangerous situations, so he did as he had been told and bolted right after the two out of the store area, to the staff room and finally to the backdoor.

Throughout their whole stampede he felt his heart ricochet in his chest. Even firing one or the other shot hollored in his ears and the steps the three made, felt like someone was banging a stick against a drum. After the group exited that horror house, Thomas took a deep breath. Inhaling the afternoon air, briefly glancing up to the sky gave him the hint, that it was slightly cloudy too, now.  

Thomas hoisted himself against the brick wall of the building and took a deep gulp.

The cool air blew over his skin and made him gasp in relief, closing his eyes. He felt more than thankful to have survived this, to have gotten James out of this, too.

The Virginian closed his eyes and slowly felt his heartbeat slow down to a normal pace. Dear god, he was more than grateful to have made it out alive out of there. Thomas was aware, that he definitely should not get too comfortable too soon, as he felt that there were still some questions unanswered. Despite that, he decided to check on his friend first, finally.

He kneeled down to James, who had been sat against the wall and checked for any breathing in the man. A wave of relief rushed over Thomas as he hovered his hand right above James' slightly opened lips. He was able to feel a little bit of air on the back of his hand. James was breathing, which meant he was alive.

The Virginian wanted to cry in relief. James was alive, that fact alone overshadowed his annoyance over losing both of their backpacks. Thomas was far from amused, their backpacks contained their last and sacre bit of supplies, as well as his notebook, that he practically wrote from day one. It felt like a huge nuisance to not be able to write about his feelings and about the obstacles they overcame. The Virginian felt a little more like grieving, but was immediately torn, as someone decided to adress the second problem that lingered on his mind.

„So, what do we do now?“, the one in the green sweater adressed, making Thomas look up to the man. Finally, he was able to get a clearer look on him. He was smaller than him, 5'7 or 5'8 if he had to estimate and definitely had a smaller frame, the latter being difficult to make out, the sweater distorted a big part of his body.

The taller one looked muscular and due to that fact even more intimidating than he should be.

He was dressed in blue jeans, a not-so-white-anymore, blood- and dirt-stained shirt and a dark blue sweat jacket.

Both men were dressed quite simple, Thomas noted, assuming they were rather young, too. 

 

„We'll certainly not let 'em out here on their own, Alex“, the taller man replied, making the other one already shoot him a dirty and annoyed glare.

„Really Hercules?“, he already began to complain to his friend, „We can't feed another two mouths! Have you looked at the tall guy? Hell, I might as well starve then!“

Thomas expression darkened at the smaller One's exclamation. „You don't need to worry about that“, he shot back, a clear venom dripping from his voice, „My friend and I will be gone as fast as you can call yourself immature.“

He saw the man fume instantly, was he really that easy to fire up? Thomas didn't have any banter in a long time and if the circumstances were different, he'd relentlessly tease the guy. He seemed to be the kind of person that was hilarious to poke with insults.

 

„Yeah?“, the smaller guy seemed ready to jump at Thomas, despite having an unconcious person right next to him, „Considering the way your useless ass fought back there, I'm surprised you and your friend are still alive!“ The Brunet man balled his hands into fists and dangerously loomed above the kneeling Thomas.

„Oh shut the fuck up, the way you keep yelling I'm surprised nobody's cut out your tounge yet!“, he spat back aggressively. „You talk so much bullshit, it's almost painful to listen to that! Makes my ears bleed.“

„Okay, that's fucking enough I'll make you regret your bullshit you stupid little gno-“, the taller man hissed, got up and cracked his knuckles, ready to punch that little annoying gremlin, what was he even thinking who he was?

The taller man stepped inbetween the both and crossed his arms.

„First of all, _shut up for fuck's sake_ “, he began, eyeing both men, „Alexander, I can't fucking believe you sometimes, now is definitely not the time to get into petty and childish fights with strangers.“

„Of course, the mega pushover doesn't get an ass-whooping, it's _always_ me“, he stated in an annoyed voice and turned away.

The taller shook his head. „As I wanted to bring up, we're both sorry for causing you two, uh, so much distress. I'm sure you two got a group to get back to and uh, that is probably going to become really damn difficult.“ Both men eyed the unconcious one at the wall.

„Actually, we both were travellin' on our own“, Thomas began to explain, recieving a snort from the so-called Alexander.

„We also, well, we left the backpacks with our supplies in the store so, we're both a little, scratch that, we are screwed without the backpacks.“

 

The taller one nodded, eyeing their surroundings for a little.

„I see, a pretty shitty situation to be in“, he mused and nodded, „You know, I think we both owe you something.“

He heard Alexander inhale air rather sharply in the background, the smaller man was probably aware of what his companion was about to offer.

„You two could, well, be a part of our group if you wanted to.“

The Virginian's face lit up and a smile played across his features, „We'd gladly accept the offer, thank you.“ That was the sentence that made the smaller guy lose a bit of his cool and moan annoyedly.

 

„My name's Hercules by the way“, the man introduced himself, „Sorry to be so rude.“

„It's fine, my name's Thomas", he replied to Hercules' introduction, his voice still hinting a clear undetone of annoyance, the Virginian then nodded to the other man, „That's my friend and companion, his name is James.“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's 11pm and I should be sleeping but do I look like I am succumbing to my bodily needs?  
> (I usually do, but not tonight tho)  
> Yeah, the next update will be faster; I swear. I promise, I have an idea where I'll be going with this fanfic, I'm just a lazy person.   
> A really lazy person.
> 
> \- Freddie


End file.
